ALBUQUERQUE, NM (KRQE) – As Mayor Tim Keller continues to push for voters to pass a $14 million bond to build a new homeless center in the city, he announced on Tuesday that the city will be adding more resources at the current one on the Westside.
Mayor Keller hopes to make the Westside Emergency Housing Center a one-stop-shop. Service providers announced they will be providing medical services, case management and job placement services, something they haven’t provided consistently since opening up three years ago.
Mayor Keller is hopeful voters will approve a $14 million bond to help pay for a new homeless center. But until then, he said they are going to utilize what they have.
“Everyone would eventually love to use an old jail for anything, but at the end of the day, it has ample space and ample parking and it’s safe and secure, and so if there’s a need for anything in the city that requires that, we’re going to use the assets we got,” said Mayor Keller.
City officials said they serve about 300 people at the facility every night. Mayor Keller said it costs about $4.5 million a year to operate the facility. They said about $1 million of that $4.5 million total is invested in transporting people to and from the facility.
